1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates generally to gaming, and more particularly to games of skill and/or chance.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Casino games are popular, and recently many varieties of new casino games have been introduced, especially those that can be played over a network such as the Internet. These games allow, in some jurisdictions, players to make bets and win prizes as if they were playing in a casino. The Internet has gained a great deal of popularity on certain “betting” card games, such as blackjack. The rules of these types of games are similar to those played in a casino, and therefore, these games have similar odds of winning as casino games.
Poker, arguably the most popular gambling game in America, has largely been ignored by casinos. The basic reasons for this are that casino poker games are slower and offer lower proportional winnings than other casino games, and thus, are less exciting for the players and less profitable for the casinos. Playing action in poker is slow because each player must make a decision for each round of betting (and/or discarding) and the casino player must shuffle the cards, deal to each player, calculate the house cut from the pot and make change for the players. Also, because poker is a game of chance whose odds of winning may be dramatically increased by various playing strategies and card-counting, the casual player often feels intimidated when playing against strangers, some of whom may be experts. The game of poker has been extended in various forms to in-casino machines that may be played for money (e.g., video poker). Similarly, poker games have been extended to be played over networks such as the Internet, both as games of pure entertainment and gambling. Also, on the Internet, there are other games of skill (e.g., video games) that players may play for entertainment. These games may be played, for example, within an Internet browser program executing on a personal computer, a cell phone, PDA, or other system.
In such traditional forms of poker and other types of games, winning or losing by a player is determined by each individual round of play. Thus, if a player faces a large loss in an individual game session, he/she is discouraged from proceeding in further sessions for fear that he/she may lose additional money.